Tag: Strength

The summer BBQ is something not to be missed… with sunshine, hot coals and a selection of marinaded meats, skewers and the banana and ice cream – yes, something not to be missed! Perhaps it’s the marinade which really makes it – in the soaking of herbs, sauces and spices the bar-b-que spells out flavour in big capital letters! From being bland, the marinade specially prepared and applied, makes all the difference.

Not only the BBQ but our climate works like this to benefit our gardens. A good soaking is sometimes what’s just called for!

If this is right for our physical life – the skin and bones of our existence, the green shoots of growth from the earth, the summer dinner al-fresco, it is also true for our spiritual lives. The bit of us inside us. The bit that makes us feel things, the way we think, the heart of who we are. Absorbing life impacts on our sub-conscious and so affects everything.

When we get soaked in accusations, anxiety, spite and such things – well it has an impact – and for these things the impact is not great. You could even say it’s a bit like toxic waste… harming and in some cases destroying our insides. Accusations, anxiety, spite are the kind of things which pollute our existence – they drop into our speaking, thinking and feeling in a way which distorts and twists goodness out of us.

What’s really alarming – we don’t even have to go looking for such things. They are prevalent, abounding almost at every corner of life. Workplaces, coffee shops, even in our homes – these pollutants can thrive. And we, if we are not careful, just absorb them. Losing perspective, pointing the finger, being mean in our judgments and thinking just becomes commonplace and normal. How sad this is – especially when the world we live in is so extraordinary and amazing! The colours splashed across our ever-changing skyline, the smiles and companionship of loved friends… these are not to be taken for granted for. For these we can and need to be grateful.

And gratitude, saying thank you is a really essential way for us to be soaked in what is healthy and non-toxic. You see, when we say thank you we give attention to the abundance in life which is here to sustain, refresh and replenish our existence. Saying thank you is not simply an acknowledgement of what is good, it is rather a ‘soaking in’ of what is good – a little bit like the smoky, summer marinade or the rain shower feeding the roots of our garden.

When we view gratitude in this way – the very act of saying thank you re-positions our whole outlook so we just soak in what is healthy and good – with the impact of strengthening our hearts. This means we will think more constructively, be more resilient in the face of challenge, and have the capacity to just keep going with greater energy.

Prayers of gratitude – spoken each day, whispered in the night, and written in our hearts – provide us with a daily soaking which costs no money and goes a long way to ensure we bless, and don’t pollute, the bits of the world we live in. It’s August – a great time for eating outdoors and also to learn, and re-learn, the art of being thankful – everyday…